Giraud2016 Tension

Accepted Manuscript
Title: Investigation into the dissimilar friction stir welding of

AA7020-T651 and AA6060-T6
Author: Landry Giraud Hugo Robe Christophe Claudin

Christophe Desrayaud Philippe Bocher Eric Feulvarch
PII: S0924-0136(16)30110-8
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2016.04.020
Reference: PROTEC 14789
To appear in: Journal of Materials Processing Technology
Received date: 17-2-2016

Revised date: 12-4-2016
Accepted date: 15-4-2016
Please cite this article as: Landry Giraud, Hugo Robe, Christophe Claudin, Christophe
Desrayaud, Philippe Bocher, Eric Feulvarch, Investigation into the dissimilar friction
stir welding of AA7020-T651 and AA6060-T6, <![CDATA[Journal of Materials
Processing Tech.]]> (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2016.04.020
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Investigation into the dissimilar friction stir welding of

AA7020-T651 and AA6060-T6
t
Landry Girauda,b , Hugo Robea,b,, Christophe Claudina ,
ip
Christophe Desrayaudc , Philippe Bocherd , Eric Feulvarcha
a
Univ Lyon, ENISE, LTDS UMR 5513 CNRS, 58 rue Jean Parot, 42023 Saint-tienne
cr
cedex 02, France
b
TRA-C industrie, ZAC des Olmes, 69490 Les Olmes, France
c
Ecole des Mines de Saint Etienne, LGF UMR 5307 CNRS, 158 Cours Fauriel, 42023
us
Saint-tienne, France
d
Mechanical Engineering Department, cole de Technologie Suprieure (TS), 1100
Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montral H3C 1K3, Qubec, Canada
an
Abstract
M
In this present paper friction stir welding of dissimilar heat treatable alu-
minium alloys 7020-T651 and 6060-T6 has been studied. An experimental
d
analysis is presented based on results obtained from temperatures and ef-

te
forts measurements in a range of advance speed from 300 mm.min1 to

1100 mm.min1 and rotation speed from 1000 rev.min1 to 2000 rev.min1 .
p
Dissimilar welding does not seem to induce a hotter side but efforts are
ce
very sensitive to process parameters. The material mixing of dissimilar

configurations has been investigated by means of macro and microstruc-
tural observations and has revealed the complex mechanisms of material
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flow into the nugget. The as-welded mechanical behaviour has been char-
acterized using quasi-static tensile tests. The cross-weld microhardness has
. Corresponding author.
Email addresses: l.giraud@tra-c.com (Landry Giraud), h.robe@tra-c.com
(Hugo Robe), eric.feulvarch@enise.fr (Eric Feulvarch)
Preprint submitted to Journal of Materials Processing Technology April 12, 2016
Page 1 of 33
also been studied for various operating parameters. Computed maps corre-
lated the microstructural features helping us establish weak zones. All these
characterizations make it possible to determine a large window of industrial
t
parameters capable of welding properly two 5 mm sheets of AA7020-T651
ip
and AA6060-T6 with good mechanical properties.
Keywords: friction stir welding, dissimilar welding, aluminium alloys
cr
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1. Introduction
an
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a joining process performed in solid state.
It was developed and patented by Thomas et al. (1995) with The Welding
Institute (TWI). At the beginning, the process was mainly used for joining
M
aluminium alloys and light materials. However many developments relating
to the FSW of high melting point materials are currently underway to ex-
d
tend the applications of this process. In FSW, heat is generated from both
te
the stirring of the base materials and its friction with a non-consumable
tool.
p
Microstructural changes during welding were studied by Zhao et al.

ce
(2010) and permitted to demonstrate the difference between fusion weld-

ing and FSW. As explained by Genevois et al. (2005) the solid-state largely
Ac
prevents solidification problems like hot tearing and porosity. Carlone and
Palazzo (2015) have furthermore revealed that residual stresses and dis-
tortions are minor. Therefore, the strength of aluminium FSW joints often
exceeds by more than 20 % that of fusion welding joints. Muoz et al. (2008)
have investigated the mechanical behaviour of Al-Mg-Sc of both TIG and
FSW joints and highlighted a reduction of 30 % in the yield stress for fu-
2
Page 2 of 33
sion welds explained by a complete dissolution of Al3 Sc hardening particles.
FSW doesnt require any filler metal whose choice is crucial for the weld
quality (Feulvarch et al. (2011)).
t
Due to these advantages, FSW is more and more widely used in many
ip
fields of industry, all the more so as it can join dissimilar alloys. For con-
ventional welding processes, the difference in thermal conductivity is one
cr
of the main problems as explained by Luijendijk (2000), which leads to
us
avoiding this configuration whenever possible. In the literature, a number
of studies, like Mubiayi and Akinlabi (2013) paper, depict the proceedings
and difficulties of dissimilar joining. As demonstrated in Cavaliere et al.
an
(2009) and Jonckheere et al. (2013) works, the choice of the material place-
ment is a great issue. Murr (2010) has studied various dissimilar welding
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combinations such as aluminium alloys AA6061 and cast aluminium A339
and exhibited the complex behaviour of each material combination as well.
d
During the welding of heat-treatable alloys with strain hardening alloys

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Dilip et al. (2010) and Ilangovan et al. (2015) have reported strong effect on
hardness variation through the joint and therefore on the mechanical behav-
p
ior with a non-homogeneous stress distribution. In their dissimilar study

ce
of AA5052-H32 / 6061-T6, Park et al. (2010) have shown that annealing

phenomena in the side of AA5052 induces a microhardness minimum which
is also the privileged area for fracture. FSW also allows the challenge of
Ac
joining noteworthy dissimilar assemblies as Al/Mg [Khodir and Shibayanagi

(2007)] or Al/Cu [Carlone et al. (2015)]. The major difficulty is in the con-
trol of the formation of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in the interface
between both materials. IMCs could lead to a greater mechanical weak-
ness because of their brittle nature. The properties can be improved by
3
Page 3 of 33
restricting the heat generation with cooling system like submerged friction
stir welding as reported by Mofid et al. (2014).
In this study, the butt joint welding of 2 precipitation hardening alloys
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AA7020-T651 and AA6060-T6 is investigated. The whole study takes place
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in a strong industrial context, i.e. the welding parameters are high compared
to those published in the literature. In FSW, material mixing is not well
cr
understood in case of heterogeneous welding, especially when it is necessary
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to link and confront it to the welding parameters. This is what we propose to
highlight in this work. AA7020-T651 is an Al-Zn-Mg alloy commonly used
in the defence industry due to its high mechanical properties and AA6060-
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T6 is an Al-Mg-Si alloy well known for its formability and application in the
automotive industry. Both alloys belong to structural hardening aluminium.
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One typical evidence of local heterogeneities in FSW structures is the
presence of onion-rings. Onion-rings are well known FSW features and are
d
considered as cross-section of the banded structure. Tongne et al. (2015)

te
and Gratecap et al. (2012) explained the formation of these features by

periodical layer deposition behind the pin. The widely documented AA2024
p
/ AA7075 dissimilar welding has been studied by da Silva et al. (2011) and
ce
correlated the formation of onion-rings to the high rotational speed. Xu

and Deng (2008) have confirmed these assumptions with various welding
parameters. Izadi et al. (2013) have shown that the formation of onion-
Ac
rings in dissimilar welding is due to the presence of thread on the tool profile
which promotes the intermixing of both materials and can be increased by
a low travel speed. Moreover, to increase the stirring of the initial interface,
a good design of the welding tool is required. Besides, a "S" shape which is
the deformed initial interface of the joined parts can be found where onion-
4
Page 4 of 33
rings are absent in the thickness as demonstrated by Xu and Deng (2008).
Dilip et al. (2010) showed that the weld strength is not significantly affected
by this kind of shape.
t
Several authors have studied and tried to explain the material flow dur-
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ing FSW using various technical solutions: Lorrain et al. (2010) with mark-
ers along the weld line, the stop-action technique in da Silva et al. (2011)
cr
work, Robe et al. (2015) have made microstructure analyses in a few direc-
us
tions, and numerical simulations were performed by Tongne et al. (2015),
Hamilton et al. (2008), and Nandan et al. (2006)). Some controversies on
the mechanisms involved still remain. It was observed that in FSW, the
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weld is formed mostly by Advancing Side (AS) material because it is the
one close to the tool and then, the material mostly dragged to the weld
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seam. Therefore, the hardest material is often placed in the AS in order to
increase the weld hardness as reported by Dilip et al. (2010). Only based on
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the literature, it is difficult to conclude about the optimal material position

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for dissimilar welding. The positioning and mixing abilities appear to be

highly materials and process parameters dependent.
p
In this present paper the dissimilar friction stir welding of AA7020-T651

ce
and AA6060-T6 has been investigated. At first, the welding processing and
the characterisation procedures are detailed. Then, an experimental anal-
ysis is presented based on results obtained from temperatures and efforts
Ac
measurements in a range of advance speed from 300 mm.min1 to 1100

mm.min1 and rotation speed from 1000 rev.min1 to 2000 rev.min1 . The
mixing of dissimilar configurations has been investigated by means of macro
and microstructural observations. The mechanical behaviour has been char-
acterized using quasi-static tensile tests and the microhardness through the
5
Page 5 of 33
joint has also been studied for various operating parameters.
2. Materials and Methods
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Friction stir welded samples are made with 300x150 mm butt joined
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sheets of AA7020-T651 and AA6060-T6 in 5 mm thick. Heat treatment T6
cr
is composed of solutionizing, quenching, and artificial ageing while T651
treatment added controlled traction between the quenching and ageing
us
steps. The nominal composition (in weight percent) of each material is
given in Table 1. The choice has been made to place the stronger material
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(AA7020-T651) on AS according to da Silva et al. (2011) and Dilip et al.
(2010) works. AA7020-T651 rolling direction and AA6060-T6 extrusion di-
rection are 90shifted, in such a way that the extrusion direction is parallel
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to the welding direction. This configuration is shown in Fig. 1. In this pa-
per, the welding direction will be referred to as WD and cross-weld direction
d
as CW, to avoid confusion with base material directions.

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Alloy Zn Mg Fe Si Cu Cr Mn Ti Al
7020-T651 4.0-5.0 1.0-1.4 0.40 0.35 0.2 0.10-0.35 0.05-0.5 - Bal.
p
6060-T6 max 0.13 0.35-0.6 0.1-0.5 0.3-0.6 max 0.1 max 0.05 0.1 0.1 Bal.
ce
Table 1: Chemical composition of 7020-T651 and 6060-T6 aluminium alloys in wt%.

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All friction stir welds were performed by TRA-C industrie on a CFSW

(China Friction Stir Welding Center) LM-B FSW machine with a threaded
tool. The tool geometry includes a 15 mm diameter scrolled shoulder with a
tapered, threaded TriflatT M 4.8 mm long probe as illustrated in Fig.2. Every
test was repeated several times (at least twice) to confirm the repeatability
6
Page 6 of 33
t
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Figure 1: Experimental dissimilar FSW set up.
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of the welding. The process parameters and samples names are reported in
Table 2. As one can see, the ratio between the advance and rotational speed
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R ratio was evaluated to classify the different welds. R is the ratio between
the advance and rotational speed. Regarding the amount of energy locally
given to the sheets, a high R ratio is considered as cold joining and a small
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R ratio as hot joining.

p te
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Figure 2: Triflat FSW tool used for the welding trials.
For each experiment, thermal cycles and welding efforts have been mea-
sured. The temperatures were measured with 16 K-type thermocouples
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Page 7 of 33
Samples Advance speed (mm.min1 ) Rotation speed (rev.min1 ) R ratio (mm.rev1 )
BW1 300 1000 0.3
BW2 700 1000 0.7
BW3 1100 1000 1.1
t
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BW4 300 1500 0.2
BW5 700 1500 0.47
BW6 1100 1500 0.73
cr
BW7 300 2000 0.15
BW8 700 2000 0.35
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BW9 1100 2000 0.55
Table 2: Welding parameters and samples names.

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flooded into the workpiece at 2.5 mm (mid-thickness) and at a different
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distance from the weld line (see Fig. 3a). The thermocouples holes were
filled with thermogrease as we can see on Figure 3b. Efforts acquisition was
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performed with a 60 kN Kistler 3-components piezzoelectric load-cell.

p te
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(a) (b)
Figure 3: : (a) Thermocouples position and (b) experimental temperature and forces
measurement set up.
Page 8 of 33
To achieve the macrographs, a standard polishing procedure was per-
formed. All the welds were etched by means of a Keller etchant (2 ml HF
+ 3 ml HCl + 5 ml HNO3 + 190 ml H2O) for 30 s. Then the observation
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was made with a binocular microscope. For the micrographs, an anodic
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oxidation was performed in order to reveal all the microstructure features.
Tensile test were performed 3 times for each welding parameters at room
cr
temperature on a 600 kN Zwick machine at a rate of 2 mm.min1 . The
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welded samples were taken along the cross-weld (CW) direction. Tests were
also performed in both main directions for base materials: rolling direction
(or extrusion direction) and transverse direction. Fig. 4 shows the tensile
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specimens geometry (following ASTM-E8 standard). For the 9 trials the
samples were collected in a part of the weld where a steady state condition
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is assumed. During the tensile test, the elongation was recorded with an
extensometer with a gauge length of 45 mm.
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p te
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Figure 4: Tensile samples geometry (thanks to ASTM-E8 standard).

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The Vickers microhardness tests have been performed with a Buehler

automatic machine and an optical microscope under a load of 100 gf (mi-
crohardness HV0.1). Maps were then numerically computed by means of
around 400 points indents (depending on the sample length), i.e. the reso-
lution on the X direction was 0.74 mm and 0.44 mm on the Y direction.
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Page 9 of 33
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Instrumented test

Even if the dissimilar metals have significant differences in their ther-
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mal properties (Thermal conductivity: 140 W.m1 .K1 for AA7020-T6 and
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209 W.m1 .K1 for AA6060-T6), not major differences were found between
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both sides of the joint (Table 3). Many works dealing with temperature
measurements reported that a small difference between AS and RS is al-
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ways present in similar or dissimilar FSW Mofid et al. (2014) due to the
difference in material velocity from one side to the other. Considering the
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distance of thermocouples from the weld line and that steel fixtures were
used, the difference in the specific heat capacity or thermal pumping is the
main phenomenon which may be the source of no real difference in temper-
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atures. As expected, a higher rotational speed induces a higher maximum
temperature in the weld while an increase in the feed rate results in a re-
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duction of the maximum temperature field.

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Fig. 5 exhibits the typical variation of Z-force with time. The time can
be divided according to the tool position in order to highlight the different
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welding steps (plunging, dwell time, welding, and retracting). The graph
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can also explain the peaks and force variation during the plunging step.
The first peak represents the force generated by the contact between the
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sheet and the pin, which is then stabilized during the plunging stage. The
shoulder contact increases again the force followed by a force reduction with
the thermal softening of the area around the tool during the 5 s dwell step.
The second graph of Fig. 5 shows the thermal stability reached during the
welding step along the X-axis on AS (4 thermocouples along the weld). The
range of peak temperature variations is about 10C. Each peak is positioned
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Page 10 of 33
Rotation speed (mm.rev1 )
Advancing side Retreating side
Advance speed (mm min1 ) 1000 1500 2000 1000 1500 2000
t
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Distance from weld center line : 12 mm
300 243 267 287 242 266 273
cr
700 188 224 238 184 211 237
1100 149 169 177 164 153 170
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Distance from weld center line : 28 mm
300 120 151 138 118 113 150
700
1100
101
91
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109
104
116
101
110
111
115
109
120
113
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Table 3: Average maximum temperatures (C) measured during welding at different
parameters and positions.
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according to its X-axis position from the beginning (Xd ) to the end (Xf ) of
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the weld. Points X1 to X4 correspond to the thermocouple lines shown in

Fig. 3a.
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3.2. Microstructural analysis

3.2.1. Microstructure
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The optical micrographs of both base materials are shown in Fig. 6,

revealing the grain structure after etching. The AA7020-T651 alloy was
hot rolled and exhibits a classic elongated grains microstructure (see Fig.
6a), created by the severe deformation during the transformation. Actually,
even if dynamic recovery occurred during the rolling operation, the grain
boundaries followed the elongation of the bulk material, but no boundary
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Page 11 of 33
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Figure 5: Z-force variation along the weld line: I-Plunge stage, II-Shoulder contact and
dwell time (5 s), III-Translation stage. Peak temperatures measured by thermocouples
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during welding.
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migration is observed in the AA7020 certainly due to the Zener pining and
solute drag effects. On the contrary, the 6060 aluminium alloy exhibits a
Ac
recrystallized microstructure (see Fig. 6b) certainly due to the homogeniza-

tion set operated to reach the T6 state after the extrusion process. Indeed
these alloys are known to recrystallize at high temperature and especially
during the solutionizing operation.
As one can see on Fig. 7, all CW-macrographs are shown on a plot where
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Page 12 of 33
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(a)
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Figure 6: Pseudo-3D optical micrographs of base metals for: (a) AA7020-T651 and (b)
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AA6060-T6.
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the welding conditions are also represented. All welds revealed more partic-
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ularly the effect of the process parameters on the grain structure formation
(strain, grain size evolution...). As expected with previous observations on
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base metals, both can be easily identified by means of their colour, grain
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size, shape, and reaction to chemical etching. Indeed AA6060-T6 is darker

and less etched than AA7020-T651 which reveals its "pancakes" grains and
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seam zones. One can note that only 2 welds out of 9 have some voids high-
lighted with red circle. For the BW3 a tunnel defect is observed due to the
low temperatures recorded (Table 3) and clearly expected considering the
operating conditions: low rotative and high motion velocities. The voids
observed in the BW1 are far less significant and maybe due to local flow
incompatibility.
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Page 13 of 33
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Figure 7: Optical cross-weld macrographs matrix.

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It is interesting to notice that the shapes of the two materials are differ-
ce
ent, varying with the process parameters. On several pictures, it is possible

to distinguish the formation of onion-rings . The shape of the joint varies
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with the R ratio: it seems that for a small R ratio (i.e cold weld), there is an
"S" shape, with flow arm formation, and when R increases (i.e hot weld), the
shape becomes more and more chaotic with the formation of onions-rings.
To prove the stability of the process and regularity of materials mixing, the
4 lines displayed in Fig. 8 represent the interface evolution for 4 welds, all
14
Page 14 of 33
welded for BW7 condition (2000 rev.min1 , 300 mm.min1 ). One can see
the regular evolution of the interface between each materials into the nugget
(the repeatability of the other configurations is not shown in this paper for
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brevity).
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Figure 8: Interfaces repeatability (4 times) for BW7 condition.
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The grains are highly affected by strain which induce large deforma-
tions in HAZ and TMAZ. This point can be partially controlled by the
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heat input, hence by the R ratio. The various macrographs seems to re-
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veal that the more chaotic the interface is (high R ratio), the less deformed
the 7020-T651 in TMAZ grains are. Even if the grains are less deformed,
p
the transition between the base material and recrystallized material in the
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nugget is sharper when R ratio increases. The nugget borders are nearly
vertical for the warmer conditions contrary to the "low temperature" condi-
tions where the width of the welded zones is much smaller in the depth of
Ac
the metal sheet.

Grain size examination was done on the nugget zone of the weld. This
region exhibits the most severe grain evolution as various mechanisms, such
as recovery and recrystallization, are active at the temperatures and strain
rates reached by the material in this location of the joint. Measurements
15
Page 15 of 33
were only done at AA6060 side because of the very small grain size of
AA7020 side inside the nugget. A wide area of the joint was scanned with
a corresponding number of measured grains between 100 and 150. A good
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statistical accuracy was reached to determine the average grain size with
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small standard deviation for the whole representative region: from 2 to 9
m. All the information is summed up in Table 4 with an ascending classi-
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fication based on the value of the R ratio. The extreme conditions (BW7,
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BW4, BW6, and BW3) allow the following conclusion to be drawn: cold
conditions (low welding speed) enhanced grain refinement. According to
Gourdet and Montheillet (2003), the dynamic recrystallization mechanisms
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govern the grain size during high temperature deformation in aluminium
alloys. In this context, the grain size increases when the temperature in-
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creases as well as when the strain rate decreases. It is then difficult to
conclude on the effect of the dynamic recrystallization on the final grain
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size (just after welding). Indeed, Jacquin et al. (2011) have shown that the
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warmer welding conditions may also imply large strain rates and thus both
effects of the temperature and the strain rate would compensate according
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to the final grain size. However the warmer welding conditions strongly
ce
promote static recrystallization during the cooling stage after welding, the
duration of which increases with the maximum temperature reached during
the welding operation. The trend observed on the grain size measurement
Ac
in the welded area can thus be linked with the post-dynamic mechanisms
(i.e. static recrystallization after welding)).
It was decided to make a focus on 2 process conditions and to detail
the effects on metallurgical evolution. Because of their great difference in
morphology, material mixing, and microstructural evolution (grain size, de-
16
Page 16 of 33
Sample R ratio (mm.rev1 ) Average grain size (m) Measured peak temperature (C)
BW7 0.15 27,98 280
BW4 0.2 20,85 266
BW1 0.3 9,63 243
t
BW8 0.35 21,01 237
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BW5 0.47 15,67 218
BW9 0.55 19,81 173
cr
BW2 0.7 7,69 186
BW6 0.73 10,05 161
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BW3 1.1 8,84 156
Table 4: Comparison of AA6060 grain size inside the nugget and measured peak tem-
an
peratures at 12 mm from the weld line sorted by ascending order of the R ratio.
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formation) the coldest (BW3) and warmest (BW7) conditions were chosen.
Global cross section of both welds came along with zooms of the var-
ious microstructures in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10. For each process condition
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the ends of the welded samples are composed with base materials without
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any microstructural changes: the weld temperatures are low enough not
to structurally modify the materials. This assumption is confirmed by the
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temperature measurements done in the vicinity of the joint which never

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exceed a quick peak of 290C at 12 mm from the weld line (see Table 3).
A micrograph of the BW3 condition is shown in Fig. 9. Detail (I) dis-
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plays severely deformed grains in the transition zone between base material
(AA7020) and nugget. Through TMAZ and HAZ in AS, a clear and tilted
nugget edge is revealed. Here a mixture of thin, elongated, and deformed
grains along with small and recrystallized ones can be observed. On the
other side (RS), the transition region from base material (AA6060) to the
17
Page 17 of 33
t
ip
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(a)
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(b)
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Figure 9: (a) Optical micrograph of cross-section of BW3; (b) details of cross-weld: I-

Transition between TMAZ and nugget on AA7020 side, II-Transition between TMAZ
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and nugget on AA6060 side, III & IV-Banded structure of dissimilar nugget.
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nugget through TMAZ-HAZ is shown in zoom (II). Due to the microstruc-

tural features of AA6060 and the asymmetrical flow from AS to RS, the
deformation in this area is less significant. Details (III) and (IV) show the
banded structure in the nugget with large layers and chaotic mixing of each
material. Very fine and equiaxed grains are present, exhibiting the smaller
grain size of AA7020 relative to AA6060. As for the BW3 condition, detail
18
Page 18 of 33
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(a)
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(b)
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Figure 10: (a) Optical micrograph of cross-section of BW7; (b) details of cross-weld:
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I-Transition between TMAZ and nugget on AA7020 side, II-Transition between TMAZ
and nugget on AA6060 side, III-Banded structure in the nugget on AA7020 side, IV-Both
side of dissimilar nugget.
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(I) of Fig. 10 also showed severely deformed grains in TMAZ-HAZ in AS.

In this case, the nugget edge is identified with a sharper and vertical direc-
tion. Similar observations are done concerning recrystallization and grains
deformation intensity. On the AA7020 side of the nugget (III) a banded
19
Page 19 of 33
structure or onion-rings can be observed. It is a sequence of thin bands
having different preferred crystallographic orientations, as detailed in Robe
et al. (2015) works, and generated by the process. Macrographs have re-
t
vealed that the nugget is divided into a kind of tip-border shape drawing
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the separation between the two materials. The tool geometry could have
significant effects on this interface due to the taper angle or the presence
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of a thread. Detail (IV) shows both materials inside the nugget which also
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exhibit the same grain size variation as for BW3.
3.2.2. Reversing the material position

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In case of dissimilar welding, the question of the material position is very
important and can have strong effects on the metallurgical and mechanical
M
behaviours of the weld. The stress and strain fields are not symmetrical
trough the joint, the temperature variation and localized behaviour could
trigger erratic reactions. Some tests were done and revealed that depend-
d
ing on the process parameters, the weld cannot be performed sometimes.

te
While for the BW3 configuration, the only correct position is the one plac-
ing AA7020-T651 on AS, the BW7 configuration (2000 rev.min1 - 300
p
mm.min1 ) provides a compact and sound weld for both material positions
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(see Fig. 11).

In this configuration, the AA6060-T6 (AS) seems to be predominantly
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present in the weld and the typical S-shape cannot be clearly identified, the
interface between both materials being more disturbed. Banded structures
like onion-rings are also formed inside the nugget on the AA6060-T6 side.
20
Page 20 of 33
t
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Figure 11: Optical micrographs of inverse BW7 condition.
3.3. Mechanical characterization an

3.3.1. Tensile properties
M
Tensile properties of the base metal and dissimilar joints welded by FSW
are reported in Tables 5 and 6. AA6060-T6 is an extruded profile welded
parallel to the extrusion direction (ED) while AA7020-T651 sheets have
d
their rolling direction (RD) perpendicular to the welding direction. Both

te
directions were tested through tensile tests. Depending on the loading di-
rection, AA7020-T651 shows a difference for UTS and elongation terms.
p
AA6060-T6 shows elongation in the transverse direction half of the elonga-

ce
tion in the extrusion direction. However it is important to highlight that

the difference in mechanical properties of AA7020-T651 and AA6060-T6:
Ac
comparing RD and TD, AA6060 is 55% of AA7020 UTS and RP0.2, and
65% of AA7020 elongation. On Fig. 12a and 12b the fracture appearances
of both base materials are shown. One can see that both base materials
have not the same fracture behavior. Indeed AA7020-T651 presents a typ-
ical 45shear direction, while AA6060-T6 has a rough fracture, with more
21
Page 21 of 33
2D striction than AA7020-T651.
Material RP0.2 (MPa) UTS (MPa) Elongation (%)

AA7020-T651 (RD) 375 424 10.6
t
(TD) 362 408 15.9
ip
AA6060-T6 (ED) 206 233 14.9
cr
(TD) 206 230 6.9
us
Table 5: Room temperature tensile properties of both base metals.
an
For a dissimilar welding, the joint efficiency (ratio U T SJoint / U T SBM )
could be calculated based on the weakest material (i.e. AA6060-T6 UTS -
230 MPa). It is important to note that the worst efficiency reached in all
M
conditions is 56 % for RP0.2, 73 % for the UTS, and 30 % for the elongation
(see Table 6). The elongation terms seems to be the most sensitive propertie
d
to the welding process. In order to compare those results to a traditional

te
fusion joining, tensile tests were performed on MIG butt joined sheets too.
The welding was made by an experimented worker. For example, the best
p
UTS-efficiency result in MIG welding is 66 %. It demonstrates that the FSW

ce
permits to keep a larger number of base material characteristics than fusion

welding, especially MIG. For dissimilar joints, there is also a difference
Ac
between joint and BM in terms of ductility. Joint elongations are equal of

AA6060-T6 elongation in the transverse direction (the one which is tested
during the tensile test), but around 70 % of AA7020-T651 elongation (rolling
direction).
The maximum yield strength and one of the highest tensile strength
were obtained for the "cold weld" (BW3) but also the lowest elongation. It
22
Page 22 of 33
is to be noted that some void defects were detected for this configuration and
could alter the mechanical behavior. But the results repeatability on several
welded plates is good. In contrast, the lowest yield and tensile strength
t
associated with the better elongation have been obtained for a "hot weld"
ip
(BW7). Inversion of materials position in the "hot weld" condition seems to
give very similar results to the original configuration. Based on the tensile
cr
properties, there is no real interest to change the position of each material.
us
It is shown in Fig.12 that in all cases, fracture occurred on RS (i.e.
AA6060-T6 side, the weakest material) of the joint and more specifically on
the transition zone between nugget and base material (only one representa-
an
tive picture is shown).
M
d
(a) (b)
p te
ce
(c)
Ac
Figure 12: Fractography results : (a) Fractography picture of AA7020-T651 (RD), (b)
Fractography picture of AA6060-T6 (TD), (c) Fractography picture of BW5 condition
(representative of every joints fracture).
23
Page 23 of 33
RP0.2 UTS Elongation Eff. RP0.2 Eff. UTS Eff. A%
Samples Type
(MPa) (MPa) (%) (%) (%) (%)
BW1 Average 125 170 5.6
61 74 41
St. Deviation 3.2 4.9 1.7
t
BW2 Average 136 178 4.8
ip
66 77 36
BW3 Average 145 183 4.7
71 78 30
cr
BW4 Average 117 175 6.7
57 76 50
us
BW5 Average 125 179 6.7
61 78 50
BW6
BW7
Average
St. Deviation
Average
132
5.0
116
181
0.0
167
an
6.4
1.0
6.3
64 79 47
56 73 47
M
BW8 Average 124 173 5.6
60 75 41
BW9 Average 134 182 6.1
d
65 79 45
te
Inverse BW7 Average 118 161 5.4

57 70 40
p
Table 6: Room temperature tensile properties of the dissimilar welds 7020-T651 / 6060-
T6. Average value represents average of test results of three samples.
ce
Ac
3.3.2. Microhardness
Like macrographs, microhardness maps are classified following the pro-
cess parameters and the R ratio on Fig. 13. The hardness of both base
materials are respectively 130 HV0.1 for AA7020-T651 and 85 HV0.1 for
AA6060-T6. Generally in FSW, hardness profiles of precipitation harden-
ing alloys follow the typical "W-shape" and reach a minimum in the heat
24
Page 24 of 33
affected zone (HAZ). In the case of dissimilar welding, the profiles are as-
sumed to be a combination of both material hardness profiles as reported
by many authors such as Murr (2010), Simar et al. (2010), and Robe et al.
t
(2015). The same conclusion can be made in this study. It is very in-
ip
teresting to compare microhardness and microstructure results in the CW
section, because all microhardness areas highlighted in the maps match with
cr
the typical FSW zones revealed on the macrographs. It is possible to distin-
us
guish the materials interface, the nugget, HAZ and TMAZ. We can observe
the great range of microhardness (from 40 to 130 HV0.1) and the sharp
evolution of measurements along the cross section of the weld.
an
It can be noted that the HAZ width decreases when R ratio gets higher.
With a high R ratio, the heat input is low enough to locate the metallurgical
M
transformation and softening only in a narrow area around the pin. On AS
the softening area ended approximatively 10 mm from the weld line for
d
R=1.1 (cold weld) and more than 15 mm for R=0.15 (hot weld). The same
te
trend can be observed on RS. This allows us to link the microhardness

behavior and the tensile results. With any parameters, the fracture was
p
located on RS and seems to match with the minimum hardness area as

ce
expected with various literature works.

Fig. 14 shows microhardness evolution of both BW7 and inverse BW7
configurations. One can see that the transition from the material positioned
Ac
in AS to the material in RS is smoother for the inverse BW7 configuration.

A sharp drop is present in the case of placing AA7020 in AS, but when
AA6060 is placed in AS, the low value of hardness increases slowly to reach
a maximum at the boundary of the joint in AA7020 side. If microhardness
and fracture location are connected, one can note that the fracture occurred
25
Page 25 of 33
once more is the area of the lowest hardness (about 10 mm from the weld
line in AS).
t
4. Conclusions
ip
The goal of this paper was to demonstrate the feasibility of FSW to
cr
join AA7020-T651 and AA6060-T6. Thanks to several investigations on
experimental tests, microstructure, mechanical behavior and microhardness,
us
we can provide satisfactory results.
Friction stir welds of AA7020-T651 with AA6060-T6 can be produced
+/6.3
an
with satisfactory joint efficiency (62 % +/4.6
- 76 % +/2.9
compared to AA6060 UTS) whatever the positioning of the

- 43 %
base materials and despite some defects.

M
We are able to weld a dissimilar set up under standard industrial
conditions, i.e. the process parameters make it possible to challenge
d
other conventional welding processes.

te
The temperature measurements permit to say that the steady state

condition is reached rather quickly with few temperature differences
p
for each material.

ce
The process parameters have an influence on material mixing, weld

integrity and mechanical behavior. When the advancing speed in-
Ac
creases, the interface between both base metals becomes disrupted

on the cross weld direction but it becomes cyclical on the welding
direction. High welding velocities or cold conditions also enhanced
grain refinement in AA6060-T6 nugget.
The links between the microhardness and the fracture during tensile
tests are shown. Whatever the positioning of the base materials, the
26
Page 26 of 33
fracture is always located on the minimum hardness area.
Acknowledgements
t
Landry Giraud, Hugo Robe, Christophe Claudin, and Eric Feulvarch
ip
acknowledge the French government defense agency, Direction Gnrale de
cr
lArmement (DGA), for providing financial support of the RAPID - DISTIR
project headed by TRA-C industrie.
us
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an
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d
p te
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t
ip
cr
us
an
M
d
p te
ce
Ac
Figure 13: Microhardness maps matrix of cross weld sections.

32
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t
ip
cr
us
an
M
d
p te
ce
Figure 14: Microhardness profiles at mid-thickness of BW7 and inverse BW7 conditions.
Ac
33
Page 33 of 33

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Accepted Manuscript

Title: Investigation into the dissimilar friction stir welding of

Author: Landry Giraud Hugo Robe Christophe Claudin

To appear in: Journal of Materials Processing Technology

Received date: 17-2-2016

Investigation into the dissimilar friction stir welding of

analysis is presented based on results obtained from temperatures and ef-

forts measurements in a range of advance speed from 300 mm.min1 to

very sensitive to process parameters. The material mixing of dissimilar

Microstructural changes during welding were studied by Zhao et al.

(2010) and permitted to demonstrate the difference between fusion weld-

During the welding of heat-treatable alloys with strain hardening alloys

ior with a non-homogeneous stress distribution. In their dissimilar study

of AA5052-H32 / 6061-T6, Park et al. (2010) have shown that annealing

joining noteworthy dissimilar assemblies as Al/Mg [Khodir and Shibayanagi

considered as cross-section of the banded structure. Tongne et al. (2015)

and Gratecap et al. (2012) explained the formation of these features by

correlated the formation of onion-rings to the high rotational speed. Xu

the literature, it is difficult to conclude about the optimal material position

for dissimilar welding. The positioning and mixing abilities appear to be

In this present paper the dissimilar friction stir welding of AA7020-T651

measurements in a range of advance speed from 300 mm.min1 to 1100

2. Materials and Methods

as CW, to avoid confusion with base material directions.

Table 1: Chemical composition of 7020-T651 and 6060-T6 aluminium alloys in wt%.

All friction stir welds were performed by TRA-C industrie on a CFSW

R ratio as hot joining.

Figure 2: Triflat FSW tool used for the welding trials.

Table 2: Welding parameters and samples names.

performed with a 60 kN Kistler 3-components piezzoelectric load-cell.

Figure 4: Tensile samples geometry (thanks to ASTM-E8 standard).

The Vickers microhardness tests have been performed with a Buehler

3.1. Instrumented test

duction of the maximum temperature field.

the weld. Points X1 to X4 correspond to the thermocouple lines shown in

3.2. Microstructural analysis

The optical micrographs of both base materials are shown in Fig. 6,

recrystallized microstructure (see Fig. 6b) certainly due to the homogeniza-

size, shape, and reaction to chemical etching. Indeed AA6060-T6 is darker

Figure 7: Optical cross-weld macrographs matrix.

ent, varying with the process parameters. On several pictures, it is possible

the metal sheet.

temperature measurements done in the vicinity of the joint which never

Figure 9: (a) Optical micrograph of cross-section of BW3; (b) details of cross-weld: I-

nugget through TMAZ-HAZ is shown in zoom (II). Due to the microstruc-

(I) of Fig. 10 also showed severely deformed grains in TMAZ-HAZ in AS.

3.2.2. Reversing the material position

ing on the process parameters, the weld cannot be performed sometimes.

(see Fig. 11).

3.3. Mechanical characterization an

their rolling direction (RD) perpendicular to the welding direction. Both

AA6060-T6 shows elongation in the transverse direction half of the elonga-

tion in the extrusion direction. However it is important to highlight that

Material RP0.2 (MPa) UTS (MPa) Elongation (%)

to the welding process. In order to compare those results to a traditional

UTS-efficiency result in MIG welding is 66 %. It demonstrates that the FSW

permits to keep a larger number of base material characteristics than fusion

between joint and BM in terms of ductility. Joint elongations are equal of

Inverse BW7 Average 118 161 5.4

trend can be observed on RS. This allows us to link the microhardness

located on RS and seems to match with the minimum hardness area as

expected with various literature works.

in AS to the material in RS is smoother for the inverse BW7 configuration.

compared to AA6060 UTS) whatever the positioning of the